Twilight characters

Appears from the start

A seventeen-year-old who leaves sunny Phoenix to live with her father, the police chief of the small, rainy town of Forks, Washington, so that her mother can travel with a new husband. Bookish, observant, and often self-conscious about her clumsiness, she expects to be miserable in a place she dislikes. At her new high school she is unsettled by a strikingly beautiful classmate who seems to react to her with inexplicable hostility. Practical and stubborn, she is drawn to unravel the mystery of him despite her own unease, and finds herself falling for someone she senses is dangerous.

Appears from the start

One of the adopted Cullen children, a pale, extraordinarily beautiful student who keeps apart from the rest of the school with his equally striking siblings. On Bella's first day he appears to regard her with sudden, unexplained revulsion, then vanishes for days before returning with puzzling politeness. He is by turns cold and protective, unusually strong and fast, and seems to know things he should not. His shifting behaviour and the sense that he is hiding something dangerous both frighten and fascinate Bella.

Appears from the start

Bella's father, the quiet police chief of Forks, who has lived alone since Bella's mother left years earlier and took Bella with her. Awkward and undemonstrative, he shows his affection through practical gestures, such as buying his daughter an old truck to welcome her home. He gives Bella space and rarely pries, trusting her more than he perhaps should, and remains largely unaware of the dangers gathering around her.

First appears in chapter 6

A younger teenager from the Quileute reservation at La Push, the son of Billy Black, an old friend of Bella's father. Cheerful, easygoing, and quick to talk, he meets Bella on the beach and, half teasing, recounts his tribe's old legends, including tales of cold ones and of ancestors said to descend from wolves. His stories, offered as mere folklore, give Bella the clue that sets her guessing at what the Cullens really are.

First appears in chapter 3

The Cullen family's father, a young-looking, remarkably composed doctor at the Forks hospital who treats Bella after a near-fatal accident. Gentle, courteous, and unnervingly self-controlled for a physician surrounded by blood, he is admired throughout the town yet keeps his household apart. He presides over the unusual family of adopted teenagers as a calm and deeply humane figure.

First appears in chapter 15

The smallest of the Cullen siblings, a quick, graceful young woman with short dark hair and an immediate, disarming warmth. When Bella is finally welcomed into the Cullen home, Alice greets her with open friendliness that sets her apart from the others' caution. She moves and speaks as though she already knows what is about to happen, and takes to Bella at once.

First appears in chapter 15

One of the Cullens and Alice's partner, a lean, quiet young man who holds himself apart and seems to find Bella's presence more of a strain than the others do. There is a calming, almost tangible effect his mood can have on those around him, and he carries himself with a wary, watchful reserve.

First appears in chapter 15

The largest and most powerfully built of the Cullen siblings, paired with Rosalie. Big, dark-haired, and boisterous, he greets Bella with easy good humour once she is brought into the family home, treating the strange situation as more amusing than alarming. He is openly fond of physical contests and games.

First appears in chapter 15

The strikingly beautiful blonde among the Cullen siblings, paired with Emmett. She is markedly cold toward Bella, resenting the risk and attention that a human outsider brings into the family. Her hostility is plain even when the others make Bella welcome, and she keeps her distance.

First appears in chapter 15

The Cullen family's mother, a gentle, heart-faced woman who welcomes Bella into her home with genuine warmth. Nurturing and soft-spoken, she is devoted to her adopted children and to Carlisle, and accepts Bella readily despite the danger the girl's presence represents.

First appears in chapter 17

A vampire who arrives near Forks with two companions, all three living as nomads who hunt humans, unlike the Cullens. Lean and unremarkable in appearance, he proves to be a relentless tracker who treats the pursuit of prey as a game. When he catches Bella's scent among the Cullens, he fixes on hunting her for the challenge and sport of it, and will not be deterred.

First appears in chapter 17

A vampire with vivid red hair who travels with James as his mate. Wild and wary, she moves with a feline alertness. She sides with James in his hunt for Bella and helps him pursue her.

First appears in chapter 17

The most civilized-seeming of the three nomad vampires, dark-skinned and courteous in manner. He acts as the group's spokesman when they encounter the Cullens and, uneasy about the conflict James is provoking, leaves the other two rather than take part in the hunt, warning the Cullens of how dangerous James is.